My Love of Espresso
Living on Capitol Hill in Seattle, it’s no surprise that anything and everything I know about brewing espresso can be tied back to by Espresso Vivace, and in particular, its proprietor, David Schomer.
David Schomer is a bit of a legend in the coffee community. Countless forum threads ask how Schomer does this and that, if he uses the double baskets or the triple baskets, and how much he doses his coffee. It turns out, I have no idea how lucky I am to drink Vivace coffee on a regular basis and grew to be the envy of my coffee buddies when I say that Schomer once pulled a shot for me himself—and then told me to keep the cup it came in.
My love for coffee originates from a love of the atmosphere that cafes provide, a love of food and drink, and a love for engineering. Making great espresso shots pulls from all three of these, and becomes an art form in the process. I could do it all day.
Over the years I picked up a few things via osmosis from hanging out at Vivace and with Philip Richardson, as we played with an Andreja Premium in Microsoft’s building 99.
Lately, I’ve been hanging out with my buddy Daryl in Beijing, who’s as nuts about coffee as I am. He’s got equipment in the form of a Rancho Silvia with a PID mod and a Mazzer Mini grinder. It’s here I’ve really doing and understanding the roasting, grinding, dosing, tamping, and brew temperature that go into making a fine shot. I bought a copy of David Schomer’s book, Espresso Coffee: Professional Techniques, which teaches not only the how but the why of espresso preparation. We’ve been doing this on Sunday afternoons and I think I’ve had insomnia on every Sunday night for more than a month after drinking the best coffee that Beijing has ever seen.
And then I was invited to go visit Slayer in Seattle on a recent business trip.
There’s a whole new twist in the world of coffee.
To be continued…
